With microfilm- or microfiche reading devices in is often desirable to be able to print out the picture displayed on the screen or to be able to process it further in other data processing installations. Therefore, large microfilm-reading devices already exist which have an optoelectronic reading device with CCD-elements built into the actual piece of equipment behind the screen for the purpose of converting the optical picture data into electric signals which can then be further processed or printed out. With these large microfilm-reading devices, a tiltable mirror can be used, for example, to selectively direct the displayed data on the screen for the user, and to selectively direct it to the optoelectronic reading device. The drawback with these large microfilm-reading devices is that in addition to requiring a large amount of space they are very expensive. In addition, the picture is not visible on the screen during the optoelectronic reading operation.
Hand-held scanners are also known for electronically reading sectors of a screen of a microfilm-reading device. These hand-held scanners have a small moving optoelectronic picture sensor and only allow a small picture sector to be read, mostly a word or a line, but not a complete side of the screen.
The aim of the invention is to create a device which can be fitted subsequently to practically any screen, in particular a conventional and already existing microfilm- or microfiche-reading device, and which permits complete conversion into electric signals of the picture visible on the screen.